New concerns over future of Wexford A&E

Cllr Anthony Kelly has called on the Minister for Health to guarantee the future of the A&E unit at Wexford General Hospital. The Wexford Sinn Féin Councillor, who openly welcomed the announcement that funding was to be provided for the new A&E project at the hospital, has questioned the validity of the project following rumours of major cutbacks. Cllr Kelly has stressed his concerns that any laid off staff members will be irreplaceable due to the current HSE recruitment embargo.

“I have great concerns over the future of services at Wexford General Hospital,” Cllr Kelly said. “I have spoken to staff and patients, and have listened angrily as our three county TDs stated on South East Radio that local cuts must be accepted in the national interest. Downgrading any hospital, no matter where it is, can never be said to be done in the national interest. A government turning its back on the sick people of its nation is not a government that is working in the national interest. There are other avenues for the state to raise revenue. Sinn Féin has constantly argued that those who can afford to pay more should do so.”

“I am very worried that the new A&E project which County Wexford welcomed so fervently only a few weeks ago may now be jeopardised by this new wave of cut backs. We seem to be facing the real threat of downgrading once again and I can’t see how one part of the hospital will be allowed to flourish while the rest is cut down. Will there be staff available to operate this new A&E on a fulltime basis?”

“Sinn Féin believes that the people of County Wexford deserve answers and assurances on the situation at our hospital. I believe that our three TDs failed to deliver that by dodging key questions and filling the airwaves with Dads Army style talk of working for the good of the country. The good of the country has to be the good of the people, and no good will come from axing hospital services. Wexford Sinn Féin is calling on the Minister for Health to clarify the talk of downgrading and the future of vital services such as the new A&E unit at Wexford General Hospital immediately.”